Cutting out pushrods
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Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 671
Likes: 19
Cutting out pushrods
Going to do my cam this winter and been watching vids.All the vids they say pushrods have to be on base circle to cut them out.They find base by rotating rear wheel and watch the opposite cylinder when the pushrods start moving at the same time they cut the oppposite pushrods out.Would it not be faster just to take cam chest cover off since you have to anyway and when the the 2 dots on the gears are facing each other cut the rear and then rotate the rear wheel till the cam gear dot is 180 degrees from the crank gear dot then do the front?
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,858
Likes: 217
From: Puyallup Wa.
Don't overlink it. I was the same way first time I took cam cover off peaked inside Mark the straw down the spark plug hole. Second and third time rotated the wheel watch them and cut them out and keep on trucking.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 9,533
Likes: 7,867
From: Long Island, New York
Winter project? Spend the time and take the rocker boxes off and remove the push rods. When done, reinstall. No reason to add an adjustment to an under complicated part of the motorcycle. Plus I am sure there is lots of crud under your tank/top of the boxes that you can spend time polishing, everyone has it. I am just not a fan of adding an adjustable part when a fixed part works just fine, but I need to spend a couple of extra hours getting to it. My 2 cents, good luck with the project.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,119
Likes: 11,174
From: San Diego, CA
Winter project? Spend the time and take the rocker boxes off and remove the push rods. When done, reinstall. No reason to add an adjustment to an under complicated part of the motorcycle. Plus I am sure there is lots of crud under your tank/top of the boxes that you can spend time polishing, everyone has it. I am just not a fan of adding an adjustable part when a fixed part works just fine, but I need to spend a couple of extra hours getting to it. My 2 cents, good luck with the project.
I prefer having solid, one-piece pushrods too..... I even had custom, one-piece push rods made by Smith Brothers for one of my bikes.
On my bike that I switched to adjustable pushrods, I didn't cut the OEM pushrods. I still took the fuel tank & rocker covers off to remove the OEM pushrods... I just never found going through the top daunting or overly time consuming.... Plus, I like inspecting the rockers/breathers while I'm in there...
But to be fair to all the techs out there who cut them, when I'm working on my bikes it's kind of a hobby... I'm not "on the clock" .....
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 5,915
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From: NorCal
I tend to be a bit shy when it comes to cracking something open when there's really no need. Murphy's Law runs rampant in my garage! LOL!
If it works, it don't need fixin! There's nothing wrong with adjustable pushrods.
If it works, it don't need fixin! There's nothing wrong with adjustable pushrods.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 21,105
Likes: 12,665
From: South Carolina
Not a fan of adjustable pushrods, especially on an engine with hydraulic lifters, I had 2 of them come loose on my Evo (one time I was lucky, the second time it cost me a lifter).
Last edited by Dan89FLSTC; Nov 11, 2022 at 10:19 AM.
Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 1,514
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From: Omaha
Winter project? Spend the time and take the rocker boxes off and remove the push rods. When done, reinstall. No reason to add an adjustment to an under complicated part of the motorcycle. Plus I am sure there is lots of crud under your tank/top of the boxes that you can spend time polishing, everyone has it. I am just not a fan of adding an adjustable part when a fixed part works just fine, but I need to spend a couple of extra hours getting to it. My 2 cents, good luck with the project.